Champions and challengers star at Snetterton
Champions were crowned while several other challengers staked their claim for glory this past weekend (September 26-27) as the British Automobile Racing Club took centre stage at Snetterton for SpeedFest East.
On what proved to be a defining visit to the Norfolk venue, contenders from a number of different championships battled not only each other, but also the elements across what was a frenetic Saturday and Sunday.
Topping the bill around the 2.99-mile circuit were a plethora of races from Caterham Motorsport, where it crowned overall champions in three of its five high-profile categories.
Oliver Smith was the first to triumph as he reigned supreme in the Bilstein Caterham Roadsport Championship. Arriving at Snetterton sitting atop the standings, Smith was near enough flawless as he firstly snared pole position in qualifying by a little over a tenth of second.
Starting at the head of the field for race one, Smith then converted that pole position into a sublime victory in race one to put himself in touching distance of the crown. He then wrapped things up in race two as he shadowed winner Mitchell Fasanya to the chequered flag.
Meanwhile, there was title glory for Brian Thornton in the FanDrive Caterham Seven 270R Championship. Having been one of the stars of the series this year, Thornton arrived with a healthy advantage in the points - although the job was far from done.
Thornton’s main title rival, former Academy champion Paul Oggelsby, threw just about everything he had to overcome the odds as he charged to a brace of wins. There was also a victory for Sebastian Tholet; however two top-six finishes proved to be enough to seal things for Thornton.
Rounding out the list of newly crowned champions was William Harris, who clinched title honours in the Vertex Caterham Seven 310R Championship.
Harris entered the weekend holding a slender lead over season-long rival William Chadwick and had to keep his cool, especially as Chadwick emerged as the driver to beat as he tallied a brace of race wins.
The title-defining moment arguably came in the second race of the weekend as Chadwick was hit with a ten-second time penalty for his part in a racing incident. That dropped him down the points and that proved to be the difference to ensure Harris, who was sublime also, to become champion.
The battle for supremacy in the Motul Caterham Seven Championship UK is set to go down to the wire, with Caterham’s premier class set to close out its season on the British Touring Car Championship support bill at Brands Hatch next month.
Taylor O’Flanagan bolstered his chances of becoming the first driver to win at every level on the Caterham Motorsport ladder by adding two more wins to his tally for the season. Charlie Lower then produced a superlative drive to end things on a high by winning the weekend’s finale.
The Caffeine & Machine Caterham Academy Championship will also be decided - albeit at Silverstone - in early October after producing a captivating nine-lap encounter around Snetterton’s near three-mile layout.
Peter Holland narrowly missed out to pole position by 0.009s in qualifying but he would not be denied in the race as he broke clear of the chasing pack and romped to victory by more than six seconds. Joining him on the podium was Benjamin Prince-Stone and Dan West.
Fans of saloon cars were well catered for over the course of the weekend as the Classic Touring Car Racing Club wrote the latest chapter of its season by producing no less than six captivating races.
Piers Grange proved to be the cream of the crop in the Pre-66 Touring Cars as he bagged a dominant double in his Ford Falcon, while Tom Harvey and Nic Grindrod demonstrated that the Ford Escort was the car to beat when it came to the Pre-83s as they tallied a win apiece.
Two different winners also came to the fore in the amalgamated Pre-93, Pre-03, Pre-13, Blue Oval Saloon Series and Classic/Historic Thunder contests. Dave Farrow powered his BMW 1 Series to the podium summit in race one before Joe Collier did the same in his BMW M3 in race two.
Ollie Smith sits on the cusp of title glory when it comes to the Junior Saloon Car Championship after the teenage sensation enjoyed another solid outing. The Musketeer Motorsport driver arrived at Snetterton in the box seat in the standings and wasted no time in hitting the ground running.
Overcoming pole sitter Leon Holly to win race one, last year’s Rookie Cup champion then added fifth and second place finishes to ensure that he goes into next month’s season finale as the driver that everyone is trying to beat.
Elsewhere, Max Scharfeggar bolstered his own title aspirations as he pipped Holly to triumph in race two, with Zain Kwekha completing the podium. Hasnain Khan then became the latest driver to triumph in the ultra-competitive series as he was victorious in a thrilling third encounter.
Closing out the weekend’s action were two races from the Adrian Flux Insurance MG Owners Club Championship, which was armed with yet another bumper entry list. Lee Pearce and Scott Bugner proved to be the toast of the competition as they each triumphed in their MG ZRs.
To view the full classification of results from all sessions at Snetterton, CLICK HERE.
You can also re-watch all the action from the weekend by visiting the official BARC YouTube channel HERE.